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77th anniversary of the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”

On Friday, May 31, 2024, the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” – an Institute of national importance for the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade celebrated 77 years since the establishment. On this occasion, the Institute organized a traditional celebration. The first part of the celebration was the scientific part comprising of a series of lectures, which was followed by a festive part and awards ceremony. Dr Danijela Drakulić had a great honour to present STREAMLINE project as an esteemed guest during scientific segment of this program.

Dan Instituta 2024 (bg.ac.rs)

22q at the Zoo – Worldwide Awareness Day

On Sunday, May 21st, two of our researchers attended the “22q at the Zoo – Worldwide Awareness Day” in Subotica, at the Palić zoo. The event was organized by non-governmental and non-profit association “22q ex YU”, founded by parents of children with microdeletion 22q11.2 who live in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The main initiator of the event at worldwide level was the International 22q11.2 Foundation. This worldwide event gathers around families and friends of patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, and also professionals in this area, giving them a chance to socialize and raise public awareness of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Participants are recognizable by red T-shirts.

This year, our two researchers spread awareness at the Subotica zoo by handing out 22q11.2 fact sheets and educating guests and zoo visitors about the syndrome and STREAMLINE goals and activities. Our researchers spent the day with patients and their families, enjoying the nature, watching animals and visiting kids adventure park. They gained insight into the life of patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and their daily struggles, but also became familiar with their way of thinking and their many talents.

On this occasion, participants were introduced to the importance of the STREAMLINE project, the research and application potential of the “iPSC-based” model system. To our delight a lot of the participants already knew a lot about our project, some even attended our two symposiums dedicated to families and friends of patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

It was a wonderful Sunday, see you again next year!

STREAMLINE visiting Kovin

On Friday, May 17, Jovana Kostić visited the primary school “Đura Jakšić” in Kovin within the program Researchers Night SCIMFONICOM, where students head a great opportunity to hear interesting facts about stem cells and neurodevelopmental disorders and to get introduces with STREAMLINE project, funded by the EU.

Naslovna

Održan prvi STREAMLINE „Industry open day“

U četvrtak 16. maja u Svečanoj Sali Rektorata Univerziteta u Beogradu održan je prvi STREAMLINE „Industry open day“. Učesnici su imali prilike da se kroz seriju predavanja iz oblasti nauke i inovacija upoznaju sa STREAMLINE projektom, radom Sektora za transfer tehnologija Instituta za molekularnu genetiku i genetičko inženjerstvo Univerziteta u Beogradu, primerom nastanka Spin-out kompanije, povezanošću istraživanja i industrije, koracima koji su potrebni od fundamentalnog istraživanja do komercijalne održivosti, strategijom prekliničkih istraživanja potencijalnih terapeutika, preprekama i izazovima za primenu ćelijske terapije u kliničkoj praksi i istraživanjima u dečijoj i adolescentnoj psihijatriji kao preduslov za efikasne rane intervencije. Ovo je bila dobra prilika za umrežavanje, povezivanje, uzajamno druženje i razmenu iskustava između akademskih eksperata, savetnika za komercijalizaciju istraživanja i predstavnika farmaceutskih kuća.

Na ovom događaju svečano je obeleženo formiranje STREAMLINE HUB-a, organizacione jedinice koja za cilj ima da okupi entuzijaziste iz oblasti istraživanja neurorazvojnih poremećaja, a sve u cilju pronalaženja rešenja za ova sve češća oboljenja savremenog sveta.

Hvala svima na učešću. Vidimo se na sledećem STREAMLINE „Industry open day“-u.

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III annual humanitarian ball EVO RUKA glamour

On Tuesday, May 14, 2024, the third spring ball was held in the organization of Evo Ruka. On behalf of the STREAMLINE project, Dr. Danijela Drakulić attended this event where she had the opportunity to hear more about the vision of all mothers of children with disabilities.

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First STREAMLINE paper is now online

We are pleased to announce that our first paper within STREAMLINE Project is now published online in the journal Children (Basel).

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), the most frequent microdeletion syndrome in humans, is related to a high risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders. About 95% of patients with 22q11.2DS have speech and language impairments. Global articulation, story generation, and verbal memory tests were applied to compare articulatory characteristics of speech sounds, spontaneous language abilities, and immediate verbal memory between four groups of Serbian-speaking children: patients with 22q11.2DS, children with clinical presentation of 22q11.2DS that do not have the microdeletion, children with non-syndromic congenital heart defects, and their peers with typical speech–sound development. The obtained results showed that children with this microdeletion have impaired articulation skills and expressive language abilities. However, we did not observe weaker receptive language skills and immediate verbal memory compared to healthy controls. Children with 22q11.2DS should be considered a risk category for the development of speech–sound pathology and expressive language abilities. Since speech intelligibility is an instrument of cognition and adequate peer socialization, and language impairment in school-aged children with 22q11DS might be an indicator of increased risk for later psychotic symptoms, patients with 22q11.2 microdeletion should be included in a program of early stimulation of speech–language development immediately after diagnosis is established.

Read more about our paper on https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11049265/ or  https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/4/489

Congrataliations to authors dr Marijana Rakonjac, dr Goran Čuturilo, dr Nataša Kovačević Grujičić, Ivana Simeunović, Jovana Kostić, dr Milena Stevanović and dr Danijela Drakulić.

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22q at the Zoo – Worldwide Awareness Day

On Sunday, May 19st, is the “22q at the Zoo – Worldwide Awareness Day”. This event will be organized by non-governmental and non-profit association “22q ex YU”, founded by parents of children with microdeletion 22q11.2 who live in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The main initiator of the event at worldwide level is the International 22q11.2 Foundation. This worldwide event gathers around families and friends of patients with 22q11.2 syndrome, and also professionals in this area, giving them a chance to socialize and raise public awareness of 22q11.2 syndrome. Wear read red T-shirts and join us on Sunday in Subotica, at the Palić Zoo .